FOIA rewrite approved by House

State Capitol Bureau

Wednesday

May 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMMay 27, 2009 at 5:10 AM

A measure aiming to strengthen Illinois law on open records requests has easily cleared its first major hurdle in the legislature. The House voted 116-0 on Wednesday for Senate Bill 189, which is the rewrite of the state Freedom of Information Act put together by Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office and others.

A measure aiming to strengthen Illinois law on open records requests has easily cleared its first major hurdle in the legislature.

The House voted 116-0 on Wednesday for Senate Bill 189, which is the rewrite of the state Freedom of Information Act put together by Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office and others.

The proposal now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The rewrite tries to strengthen the law that open-records advocates have criticized as extremely weak and easily abused by both state and local government officials.

It calls for civil, but not criminal, penalties for violations by public officials and requires officials to turn more information over more quickly. It also creates a public access counselor in the attorney general's office to mediate disputes and issue both binding and advisory opinions on what documents should be released.

The rewrite would make e-mails and text messages sent by public officials on publicly owned telephones and electronic devices open to review.

"If the message is under control of the public body, the answer is yes," said House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. "We're trying to open things up."

He added that the Illinois Press Association - which had strongly criticized a watered-down version being discussed last week - "enthusiastically" supports this rewrite.

GateHouse News Service State Capitol Bureau

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